It's Really You
by KHighness
Summary: Stelly one-shot of the recent dock scene. She's torn between her old love and new, who she thought were one and the same. What the hell is a girl to do?
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: GH has thrown me into complete confusion with this twin storyline and my JaSam loving heart cannot take it, even as they keep me completely glued to what happens next! I was one of those people who watched Billy's portrayal with some skepticism when he did things that Jason wouldn't do. I'd say, "Jason would never do that" when he climbed the stairs and yelled King of the World, or when he dressed up for Halloween, or sang karaoke…but I watched loyally because Billy gave me back my JaSam. Without him, I would've stopped watching GH completely years ago. Then when they finally slashed that stupid Lake mess, he started to grow on me, and I got to love how he treated my girl and took on more and more of the Jason characteristics, while keeping some of his own. It was great watching the changes in him as he learned the character better. Both Jasons have given me things I love about the character and things that I hate, so now I don't really care who plays the part - I just want JaSam! Kelly burns up the screen with them both, so as long as I get JaSam, I'll be good._**

 ** _Interestingly enough, as much as I hate, hate seeing Sam or Jason with anybody else ever, I find I don't hate the fact that she's staying with Drew right now, and I think it's because he was Jason for me. It's kinda like he still is in a weird way, and I'm still enjoying them. GH has made that transition rather seamless…smart of them! If they try to please the Jiz fans again, (which is a real possibility at this point), they will have given Sam a love that her fans will support, instead of totally boycotting the show for them trashing JaSam again. They've hurt JaSam's history, but I also think it's high time Jason gets to fight for Sam for a change. Maybe seeing her with someone who loves and treats her right, will give him some sympathy for what he's put her through with the slimy nurse. He's never taken the time to understand what she went through with that woman, and he still continues to see halos over her undeserving head, no matter what she does to Sam, (both Jason's do), and it drives me crazy._**

 ** _Nevertheless, this one-shot is an homage to old school JaSam, and it takes place at their recent meeting on the docks. I think GH could've done more with that scene but I'm hoping they'll make up for it down the road. They don't have to put them back together here, but they could write her a little more conflicted in their scenes, even as she stays true to Drew. This is how I'd have liked to have seen it._**

 **::::::::::::: _Stelly One-Shot_ :::::::::::::::::**

Sam tore out of the police station, leaving her mother gaping after her with concern as she fled the room that had suddenly been robbed of all air. She couldn't breathe, couldn't catch her breath…she had to get out. Without conscious thought, she soon found herself at the hateful dock - the cold, miserable place that had taken him away and thrusted her world into complete chaos and pain. Pulling the leather jacket tighter in a hug around her trembling body as she fought to inhale the cold, crisp air, she struggled to calm the relentless pounding of her frantic heart. He was back. It really was him! Five years after he'd disappeared, taking a part of her soul with him, leaving a crater in her heart and waning her own will to live, he was back!

She thought he'd come back three years before…that the man who'd consumed her every waking thought and owned every beat of her heart for two beautiful years now, was him. She'd already done this - had already gone through the wondrous, astonishing realization that he hadn't died, had returned to them and fallen in love with her all over again. She was married to him, living the life they both wanted above everything, for two years now…so how could it be that they weren't? How could it be that the minute she opened her eyes a month ago, when strong arms wrenched her from the dark waters and saved her from drowning, the minute she'd seen the deep, deep blues staring at her soul from the face she'd loved for so long, she'd known?

When she awoke in the hospital to find her husband by her side, she'd first thought it had been but a dream. Jason had pulled her from the water and her drugged mind had envisioned him with his old features…until Jason confirmed he hadn't been the one to pull her out, that there was someone in town that looked the way he used to…until he walked into her hospital room and she saw him clearly once more. _It was him_. She'd known him instantly. But how could it be? Her husband was right by her side, the same place he'd been for two years now, loving her every bit as hard as he always had, his memories of their lives together intact and accounted for. So how could this newcomer be him also?

When the twin explanation came to fruition, it finally made sense…except for the part where the love of her life, who loved her fiercely and needed her loyalty more than he ever had before, was who, exactly? She knew when DNA proved they were twins, that she'd spent two years married to Andrew, two beautiful, glorious years where he treated her like a queen and their children like the princes and princess that they were. When he said he'd put them first, he actually did - walking away from the only business he'd known his entire adult life, putting their safety and happiness above all else, even at the expense of pissing off two very important people in his life. She knew deep in her heart that he wasn't Jason, but she loved him so very much. He was a good, good man, and he believed so ardently in his identity, his memories were so much a part of him that she had to give him the same support he'd given her. She had to love him just as fiercely and unconditionally as he loved them…harder, when people he loved inexplicably turned away from him and left him shaken. But she knew.

Jason Morgan had shown up when she needed help, like he hadn't missed a beat in five years. When her husband left to tend to the needy nurse who always seemed to get both Jasons' attention, leaving her vulnerable and in danger, the real Jason Morgan had shown up to save her. She knew it then as clearly as she knew it now. She knew it when he stood in the living room of the penthouse home they'd once shared and looked into her eyes, asking her what she wanted him to do. Quiet, unassuming, giving Jason Morgan would follow her lead. What she wanted, needed to safeguard her happiness, is what he would do, irregardless of the cost to him. She knew.

When Andre Maddox confessed in the middle of the police station and her husband was reeling from hearing that everything he thought he knew had been a cruel, evil, manufactured lie, she knew it was true. But she would never leave him. He loved her, he adored their children and the life they were building for their family. He was present and accountable to their happiness and safety, and nothing else in the world mattered as much to him. How was that something he should be punished for? How could taking her love from him, be something she could pile ontop of everything else he'd lost in the spanse of minutes, when they proved to him he truly was not who he thought he was all along? Learning his true identity had in no way diminished the love she felt for him. He was the man who made her laugh, who she made a daughter with, who was the only father Danny had ever known, who took steps to love and protect her when she shot his friend in a delusional mess, who jumped in front of a bullet for her without a thought, who pledged to love her eternally and hadn't wavered an inch. She loved him so much. But she loved **_him_** too!

Struggling desperately to breathe, to get air through laboring lungs, Sam shoved the hair back from her face as she stood at the water's edge. Suddenly, her body tingled and grew colder as pimples riddled her arms beneath the jacket. Turning slowly to confirm the signals triggered, she met the blue eyes in the face that had rocked her world over and over again for years and years. He stood as deathly quiet as she did, obviously feeling the same intense anticipation of facing each other, alone, with the knowledge of who he truly was, proven and completely in the open. Breathing that had started to regulate, once again sent her close to hyperventilation, as she looked at the man who would always own so much of her heart and soul. It really, really, really was him!

Jason couldn't believe she was there. She'd barely looked at him when the truth came out earlier, had stayed by the side of his brother, had shown her support and love completely to his twin. His heart had taken even more pounding at the sight of her, no longer his, no longer looking at him the way she looked at Drew, no longer easing into arms that ached to hold her and feel her once again. Every single time his eyes found her, all he'd wanted was to touch her again. Without that, it all still felt unreal to him, even with his identity now proven and no longer in doubt, even with his friends and who he considered family, steadfast by him with their support and love and welcome, it was hers that would make this truly coming home for him. She kept her distance now like she'd kept it all the while since he'd returned, and it hurt a little bit more each and every time. But he understood it. She was married to his brother and his Sam was nothing if not loyal and true! The same reason that kept her away from him now, was the very one he loved her more than any woman he'd ever known. Taking a step, then placing one tentative foot in front of the other, Jason moved slowly to the love of his life, breathing easier when she slowly moved to him too.

He stopped when she stopped, facing each other just out of reach. The pain she felt was written in every feature of her beautiful face and he wished he could remove every single worry line that crossed her brow. She'd known. He knew that she knew it was him from the moment she saw him on the docks, and when she told him in the hospital that he was Danny's father, he knew that she was quietly telling him that she knew. Just as much as she knew him, he knew her too and knew the hell she was living in. There was no way she could've acknowledged him without it being a betrayal to what she'd thought was her life and her marriage, and he understood that. He expected it even, because he knew Sam McCall Morgan like nobody knew her. He knew what they had, what they'd shared…what they still felt. And he could wait. She was worth waiting for.

"It's going to be okay." The pain on her face and the torture in her eyes slapped his heart and he wanted to make it better. "Whatever happens - it will all work out. It's going to be okay."

Sam was whirling, her heart was thumping and her head was spinning. Her husband, the man who taught her to love, to trust and to believe, the man who gave her the son she treasured and the life that set her soul on fire, was standing in front of her…but he wasn't the man she was sharing her life with, even though she'd spent years thinking he was.

"That's it?" The incredulous words left her throat and tears blocked her eyes. She looked at him and she wanted to scream, wanted to throw herself into his arms and let him hold her again…but she couldn't. "That's all you have to say?" Her thoughts were firing in all directions after her heart and it bubbled into anger at the ugly, untenable situation, and she shoved him. More tears blurred her eyes when the first shove strengthened the anger and hurt and confusion, and she shoved his hard chest again. "It's going to be okay? How the hell can it be okay ever again?"

When she would shove him again, Jason caught her delicate, beautiful hands and held them to his chest, his brain registering her touch where he held her to his body. Soft, sweet, silky…he had the feel of her again and he never wanted to let go.

"I know, Sam - I know everything is a mess right now, but I promise you it will be okay."

"How? Huh? Tell me how, Jason?"

 _She called him by his name!_ She drew her hands from him and the emptiness instantly returned when he missed her suddenly. What just a mere touch from her could do to him!

"Tell me what you need. I'll do whatever you need, to make it okay."

The stupid tears were falling and blinding her, robbing her vision of his beautiful face. God, how she loved that face! Beautiful blue eyes she drowned in every single time. Quizzical brow that told her so much of what he thought. Chiseled nose above fiery lips that turned her bones to mush and her blood to lava. Strong jaws that carried the weight of so much so effortlessly…that face that had filled her dreams and righted her world on so many occasions. She couldn't stop looking at him, wondrous as she never thought she'd ever see it again - had made peace with the change…and now had her world on its head.

"You can't ask me that! This is your life too." Taking a careful step forward, Sam used one hand to swipe the damn tears from her eyes, then reached gingerly to brush his cheek with the other. "Five years! You've been gone all this time and I thought you were right here." Pulling her hand back, she turned quickly from him to rush and double over at the edge of the dock. "Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick!"

When her chest heaved and clear fluid flowed from her throat to the water below, she felt the hair being swept from her face and gagged when her breathing failed again. A minute later, Sam straightened up and turned to look at his face again, taking a step back as she wiped her mouth with the edge of her sleeve beneath the jacket. She couldn't stop looking at him. Her heart catapulted when she thought of their last night.

"Why? Why did you leave me?" The vulnerable sound escaped her lips and prompted the tears again. "You promised me you'd be careful…you said you'd always come home. Why did you leave?"

Her words wretched his heart and surprised him, bringing a mist to his own eyes. "I didn't mean to leave you and Danny. I **_never_** wanted to leave you."

Sam turned to look at the dark water again and Jason followed her gaze, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"They told me…Sonny and Alexis told me that you went in to look for me. I'm so sorry I put you through that."

"I almost died when I couldn't find you, but I never believed that you were dead. Not when they called off the search, not when everybody told me to put you to rest. I could always feel you, feel that you were out there somewhere and that you'd come home to me." She turned to meet his eyes. "And three years ago, I thought you had."

The pain in her voice broke his heart. "I don't know what happened to me, Sam. I don't know where I was or who had me for so long, but the minute I woke up in that clinic six months ago, the minute I could muster a cohesive thought, the only thing I thought about was getting out of that place and making my way home to you. I thought about nothing else but coming home to you…and **_nothing_** was going to stop me!"

Oh my God! He'd been halfway around the world fighting to come home and she had no idea. Someone had robbed him of his life and she'd had no clue he was still missing. Now, here he was, standing in front of her, having fought his way back for her, and she was no longer his to have. Her love and support was no longer his to get. She'd given it to a good man, a deserving, loving man…who she'd thought was him all along. She'd spent two very good years with Drew, and during that time she got to know his heart, she got to see his commitment, and she got to feel his devotion. That part of them was very real. Everything about them was real. His name might have been Jason's but his actions and emotions were all his.

"I can't believe this is happening! This is so cruel! It's so cold!" Sam turned away from him then swung back. "It's Helena! She did this! That evil bitch cursed me on her deathbed, told me I'd never know true happiness, and this is what she meant! She's dead, but she orchestrated this somehow - I just know it! Who else would gain from letting me marry your brother believing he was you, having a child with him, believing you and I were creating another life, growing our family and our bond…when nothing could've been further from the truth? When you were locked away in hell the whole damn time…and I was living what I thought was our perfect life together!"

Jason could see her pain so clearly. Somebody had done this to them…had callously removed him from their life and replaced him with his brother. His eyes welled with tears when he thought of his beautiful little boy.

"Danny…Danny is my son!" His heart burst with pride and a smile broke through the pain. _"He's my_ ** _son_** _, Sam!"_ When she nodded, he continued, "I meant it when I told you that I loved him no matter what and that I'd raise him as my own. I meant every word…but to find out that he's really mine…in every way…" Words choked his throat and he cleared it loudly.

"I'm going to find out who did this - I promise you. Somebody is going to pay for doing this to us..and if Helena is really dead, somebody else is continuing what she started. I'll find them, Sam. In the meantime, I'm not going to make this any harder for you. I know you love him, I can see that you do. I'm glad that he's been good to you, that you had somebody who loved you the way you deserved, when I couldn't. I'm not mad at you, you have to know that…and if staying away is what you need from me right now, it's what I'll give you. I'll always, always give you anything you need." His hand reached up to brush the errant strand of hair from her face but he caught himself quickly and cautiously drew it back. "Take care of yourself, Sam."

She heard the words that cut through her heart but found herself powerless to push them away. She had no choice but to watch him go. She couldn't ask him to stay, as much as she wanted to, needed to, she couldn't. Not anymore. But he was leaving. With one last look he'd turned and was walking away, taking a piece of her soul with him, wrenching her heart from the aorta, leaving it bleeding and blistered against her ribcage. The pain was immense, and before he took the step that would take him completely from her sight, she heard the anguished, weepy voice break from her throat.

 ** _"Jaason!"_**

The sound of his name upon her lips gave him the sweet pause it always did. Nobody had more right to say it than she. Turning to face her again, his heart contracted at the anguish that stood before him as she clutched the tip of her jacket, her stance straining against moving her to him. He couldn't take it. Reaching one hand out to her, he whispered, "Run to me, Sam!"

She heard the words, knew she shouldn't have, knew she shouldn't go, but then he spoke them again.

"Run into my arms, like you did that night." When she still hesitated, he finished the same way he did that night on the terrace. _"RUN TO ME!"_ And she did! A second later he was holding her, clasping her to his chest as tightly as he could hold her, grasping desperately to the feel of her against him as he buried his head in her neck and took a deep, deep breath, as much to breathe her as to calm the palpitations that drummed his heart out of his chest. He was holding her…the glorious moment he'd dreamed of since the minute he'd laid eyes on her again. He was holding her and she was clinging to him as desperately as he clung to her. Her body shuddered from the giant sobs that rocked her through and through, and Jason never wanted to let her go ever again. She was his wife. She was his heart. She was his soulmate and at the core of everything good that lived inside him. He was incomplete until he got her back again…not fully home until he got back into her arms…and forever this time. He would fight with everything in him to get this back, because losing her was never an option that he will ever, ever live with….not ever!


	2. Alternate

**_A/N: But on the other hand…there's another alternative!_**

She was having trouble breathing, much like she had inside the interrogation room at the PCPD, and as Sam turned to find the source of the trouble catching her breath, she registered the things about him that left her that way.

His build, the same exact one that had held her so very often…the look upon his handsome face that always left her entranced, that look that gave so much as he drank from her soul. That look that belied the beat of his heart he'd earmarked only for her. Piercing, beautiful blue eyes that carried that look of desire and undying, everlasting love held there for her. Sam gasped for air, then concentrated on what had sent her palpitating out of the police station. Those eyes, that look, those movements, down to the very way he held his head when he studied her…the way he's studied her everytime she was in his presence. She felt drawn to him…but there was more.

"It's you!" Her whisper barely sounded from a very dry throat that couldn't even speak his name.

"It's okay, Sam. It's going to be okay."

"Is it?" She moved closer to him now, her breathing regulating as she watched his approach that slowly matched hers.

"No matter what happens from here on in, it will be okay."

"For me, maybe…but what about you?"

The quizzical raise of the brows she'd traced so many times told Sam how she could've made the connection before.

"Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy, Sam."

The soft words reminded Sam how giving he was, how kind, how thoughtful and sincere. And she knew he wasn't doing it on purpose.

"You really don't know, do you? You didn't plan any of this."

Again the query span his face as he waited for her to explain, quiet, patient, just like Jason.

"You're not Jason."

She saw the disappointment cross his face and she knew he was convinced that she was trying to not face facts, as he knew them. She continued softly…

"You look like him, sure - you sound like him and you even have Jason's characteristics. You've been nothing but gentle and selfless since you arrived - you've given me space that allowed me to come to decisions about my life, just like Jason would. You haven't placed an ounce of pressure on me to choose a life with you…and that's exactly what Jason would do."

"Sam…" he took another step closer to her. "…that's because I _am_ Jason, Sam. And like always, I want only the best for you, and for Danny. I want you to choose what you think is right for you and your children…even if it's not me."

Sam smiled through the tears that ran her cheeks, and looked at him still. "It's remarkable - you can so easily walk right into Jason's life and no-one would ever know the difference. You are so very much like him…but you are not my Jason."

He didn't know why she still fought it so hard. It had been proven right in front of her. Jason understood that she didn't want to believe that the man she'd married and had a child with was a perfect stranger, didn't want to have to face the life changing decisions his reappearance forced upon her, but Sam had never been one to hide from hard choices or situations. She faced everything head-on - no matter how big or intimidating. She was afraid of nothing! But this, for whatever reason, was proving too much for her. Maybe more had changed in five years than he realized afterall.

"I know this is hard…I wish more than anything that I wasn't doing this to you, but I'm here, Sam. It's me…I'm standing right here!"

She was shaking her head. "I admit, I've had moments of doubt and there was even a brief period of time today at the PDCP where I wondered, could I be wrong? But I'm not wrong…I don't care what their **_electronic_** fingerprints show, or what Andre Maddox has to say…Jason Morgan, my husband…is somewhere out there right now trying to come to terms with what he just learned. You are not him."

The disappointment cut deep, but he knew she was loyal. She would've been fighting for him just as hard if the shoes were on the other foot, he knew that. But realizing that she didn't know him, hurt. Sonny had known him on sight. Carly had known him instantly. Diane, Spinelli, Elizabeth…they all knew him the moment they shared a word…so how could the love of his life still have doubts? Nobody knew him like Sam knew him. Nobody. How could she have let his brother in so far that she still blocked _him_ even now?

"It's me, Sam. But I'll do anything you want - just like I told you before. If you want me to let go of the name Jason Morgan and never use it again, I will. If you want me to leave town, if it will make things easier for you, I'll go, and you'll never have to see me again. Just tell me what you want me to do?"

Sam shook her finger towards him as she nodded, "See - right there…that's just one of the many things that let me know you're not my husband." She used both hands to wipe the tears that had left her cheeks wet, then wiped them against her coat. "Five years ago, I would've accepted that response from Jason - it would've made sense. Five years ago, Jason and I hadn't experienced the things we have that brought us to where we are now, to the people who we've become. Leaving me, leaving our family…that's no longer something Jason would ever voluntarily do. Not anymore."

"Sam…"

"No, let me finish, please." She closed her eyes and rubbed a palm across her forehead. "I'm not mad, or upset…you're not doing any of this on purpose. Somebody stole your life and dropped you in the middle of Jason's…". She lowered her hand and opened her eyes to face him again. "Somebody with their own agenda is doing this to you…to all of us. But you are not Jason." She took a small step closer to him and stared deep into his eyes. "For one very telling thing, Jason has the most beautiful, soul piercing blue eyes I've ever seen in my life…yours are a couple shades darker than those eyes I've been staring into for years. Eyes that look back at me with firsthand knowledge of the history we've seen together. You are the spitting image of Jason - you are…but just like any identical twin…anybody who knows you well enough, can see the most subtle differences between you. In addition to your eyes being darker, you're missing little things I've picked up about Jason over the years…little habits and tells that he doesn't even know he has. But I know them. The way Jason says my name, the slightest tilt of his head when he's thinking something through, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes when he teases me, the way he looks back to notice me, everytime he leaves a room. Little things that nobody else knows…little things he himself never noticed… _I_ know them. I've seen them in my husband…but they are not in you."

He could tell that she really believed the things she was saying, and every word hurt him a little bit more when he realized how much she really believed it wasn't him standing right there in front of her. He'd really lost her…and his world was spinning off its axis with each passing moment that she continued to talk about **_him_**.

"Somebody wanted to ruin Jason's life, to uproot our life together, and they dragged you here to do it. You are Andrew Cain. I knew it when you showed up, and I still know it now. You possess enough similarities to make the switch believable, but memories and physical features alone won't cut it. You've managed to convince everyone else to leave my husband, without lifting a finger - and I don't even blame them all that much, because you almost had me for a second. You almost made me believe that the man I've spent the last couple years loving more than my life, was not who I thought he was…but I know him. I know the arms I sleep in every night! I know the eyes that look at me everyday like I hung the moon and the stars! I know the heart that beats in complete sync with mine…I _know_ my husband!"

"You're wrong - you're so wrong."

"No…you are. You have the memories but you don't have the emotions that go with each one. You have the physical attributes, but you don't have the telltale mannerisms. Somebody did a good job of convincing you - but they couldn't possibly give you everything that makes up Jason Morgan, and it was highly presumptuous of them to think that they could. Whoever thought he would play God with our lives, don't know every single thing about him - they never could. They don't know the little things that I know."

She sounded so convinced, so sure. Was this just her way of coping? Of course…she couldn't deal with the enormity of what had turned out to be a life of lies.

"Sam, I get that you're thrown - it's not fair - I know that. You're finding out that you're still married to me, so the marriage that you thought you had isn't real. That makes your daughter illegitimate, and that sucks. Everything you thought you knew about the last five years is a lie, and I'm so sorry…but it doesn't change the fact that it's me…standing right here, right now."

Sam tore her eyes from his familiar face and walked towards the water's edge, shoving her hands inside her coat pockets to pull it close to her hips. She felt so bad for him, for what he was going through, for what some evil had put him through and taken from him.

"You'll probably never believe that you're not Jason, and I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry that someone did this to you. Andrew Cain sounds like a good guy. He didn't deserve this."

He moved to stand next to her, lost as to what he could possibly say to make her believe, when she so stubbornly refused. She could be so very stubborn!

"No, he doesn't. I hope in time, he can learn about himself again."

She lowered her head and rocked her body side to side for a second. Then she faced him again. "You're right - I hope you can. In the meantime…you believe what you can prove, and this whole town believe you too. We're not going to fight any of you about this, but I want you to know that I will be searching for my own answers. I will find whoever did this and I'll get to the bottom of it one way or another."

He was shaking his head. "I can't let you do that - it's too dangerous. I can't let you risk yourself, especially when we already have answers. I'll find out who is responsible for giving away my life and taking you away from me. Please tell me that you'll stay out of it, Sam!"

"I can't do that. This is my family's existence - our children's legacy. We have a new life that is being ripped to shreds by some unknown force, and that is not okay."

"He bought a media company - that should help to prove it to you - that's not something I would do."

"Not five years ago, he wouldn't. But like I've said - **_alot_** has changed and we've been through things that led us here. My husband and I have both grown from the people we were. Five years ago, he hadn't been shot in the back and taken from our lives. Five years ago, he hadn't almost married someone else and lived an entirely different life away from us, a life built on lies and deceit and treachery, at the hands of someone he thought he knew better. We didn't have a daughter, who has enriched our lives and joined ranks with her brother to be the two most important people to us. He didn't have a relationship with his older son, who miraculously came back from the dead to afford him a second chance to be the father he'd always wanted to be to him and thought he'd lost any chance. He didn't almost die, **_again_** , leaving his family **_again_** …for a business that just doesn't mean as much to him anymore. Five years ago, my husband didn't realize that being a father was a much bigger part of him than being an enforcer. But he does now. Aurora Media is so much more than just a company. It's a promise! It's a legacy for our children, something they can hold onto and believe in, something that won't threaten their lives and give them constant nightmares. It's a step in a new direction that I'm sure will have its own danger and adventures - I mean, look at what happened at the launch party! I'm sure we haven't seen the last of the exciting times ahead at Aurora Media."

She really had changed. He looked at her demeanor and listened to the conviction in her words, and he realized that she believed every single one. She was different.

"I never thought I'd see the day when _you'd_ play it safe. I'm sorry that you went through all that."

Sam chuckled dryly. "That's not even half of what the last five years held for us, but you get the point. Our family is headed in the right direction and we've made the right choices for our children, but people have a hard time accepting that. Sonny and Carly said they understood, but we could tell they never liked it. It's easier for them to accept that _you're_ my husband - you're the Jason they've been dying to have back…the man who's pledge of allegiance and life is still theirs for the taking. Spinelli, I can't quite explain. He recognized Jason even before I did…knew it was him from just seeing his back. Diane goes where the money is, and one look at you and the backing from Sonny and Carly, and she knew you'd convince them. She's the same person who fought for Franco, even knowing who he was and what he'd done, so her I get. But Sonny, Carly, Spinelli…they **_know_** Jason. Nobody should be able to fool them - **_nobody_**. It's hurt him deeper than they could ever understand…but he'll be okay…I'll make certain of it."

"I'm not lying to you, Sam."

"Not intentionally, you're not. But it's all lies, and I will prove it."

"I wish you'd listen to me and let me handle this. You just said you're keeping your children out of danger - digging into this could put you all smack in the middle of it."

"I'm not going to do anything reckless or stupid, but I won't sit idly while my family is torn apart and the man I love is shredded for somebody else's enjoyment. I know how to dig, and I'm about to get deep into somebody's business. I hope they're ready - after what they've put us through. What they continue to put us through."

He couldn't convince her and he couldn't stop her. She was determined and stubborn, and as sure as he remembered everything about her, he knew she'd get in over her head.

"Okay, I won't try to stop you from investigating. But I'm doing it with you. I'll watch your back, just like old times."

Getting ready to leave, Sam looked at the face that she once could pick out of any crowd. "Thank you, but I have a husband for that, and nobody walks through fire for me, better than Jason Morgan. Take care… _Andrew_."

He watched her walk away from him, ripping his heart out with the turn of her back as she left him for good. Then she slowly faced him again.

"I shot him - did he tell you that?"

"Who?"

"Sonny!" She saw the incredulity cross his face and she nodded. "I was out of my mind with Toxoplasmosis after my daughter was born, but **_I_** pointed a gun at **_Sonny Corinthos_** , shot him point blank in the chest and Spartan-kicked him into a hole in the ground, where I left him to die. I did it because my troubled mind at the time, told me he was a threat to Jason and to my family." She paused for a heavy second, then continued, "You have Jason's memories, so you know what Sonny means to him, and you probably know what he means to me too. Yet, when I thought he was a threat to what we've built, I was able to go there. So what do you think will happen to the people who intentionally did this to us?"

To say he was shocked was an understatement. Sam loved Sonny. They both did. Sick or not, she would never hurt him. Things really were _completely_ different! Maybe there was something to her theory afterall. Maybe there was so much more here that he wasn't seeing and needed to dig for.

"Maybe we really _should_ request those old paper files with the physical fingerprints."


End file.
